


Culture Shock

by sweetoxxic



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, China Line - Freeform, Cultural Differences, M/M, luwoo if you squint - Freeform, renmin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 11:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20096680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetoxxic/pseuds/sweetoxxic
Summary: Huang Renjun goes through a culture shock after having his hand held by Na Jaemin in the subway.orBy accident and not knowing what it means, Na Jaemin holds Huang Renjun's hand in the subway.





	Culture Shock

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! The idea for this oneshot came after a video I saw on Twitter. I didn't understand it at first, but after I looked at the meaning, the plot naturally came. Some of you probably already saw it, but here's the link anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b06oELjOQPg.
> 
> I need to say I'm much more of a nomin/norenmin shipper than a renmin shipper, but as soon as I watched the video the only couple that came into my mind was renmin (sorry, Jeno). This is not the kind of story I usually write, but I decided to try and I really liked to write it, and I hope you like to read it! 
> 
> This story was originally written in Portuguese, so if you're a Portuguese speaker and see this story in Portuguese somewhere else, don't worry, it's me. That being said, please excuse any mistakes I might have made. Enjoy! :)

Feeling the breeze on his body while walking towards the subway station, Renjun smiled. He didn’t really know why, but he felt extremely good that Wednesday morning. Maybe it was because of the sun, which already shined brightly despite it being early, combined with the nice weather that reminded him of his hometown, Jilin, which he left approximately a year and a half ago to study Physics in a prestigious south Korean university and from which he held good memories; maybe it was due to the fact that he would have his first class – Didactic – with Na Jaemin, his supreme crush since the first semester of his (until now very brief) academic life. The second option was much more believable.

He knew that because of the time the subway would be crowded, but on such a beautiful and promising day, he couldn’t care less. What could go wrong, anyway?

*****

The train was crowded. Not in a way that it wouldn’t fit anyone else but crowded enough for Renjun to be uncomfortably close to the lateral bar instead of adventuring in the middle of the several bags and backpacks searching for more space. At least it was still possible to pull his cellphone from his back pocket and take a look at his social media.

On the next station, Renjun looked away from Weibo for a moment to see the amount of people coming in and out of the train, hoping there would be enough space for him to move somewhere else. However, he was beyond surprised when he saw a familiar bunch of blond hair alongside the group of people coming in, distracted with his cellphone and earphones while carrying his backpack.

The boy wasn’t even looking at Renjun, but he felt his heart race and his face turn red anyway. What should he do? Hide behind the tall man who was by his side? Make his way through the crowd until he was closer and take the opportunity to say hello? Pretend the boy wasn’t there and go on with his life? He took a deep breath and held himself a little closer to the metal bar.

The first time he saw Jaemin was on a Tuesday, on the first Algebra class of the semester. On the occasion, Renjun though he was cute, but nothing else. The crush was only developed a month later, while he was having trouble reading a Korean article on the textbook and Jaemin offered help. It was only after that that Renjun started to notice how beautiful his eyes were, how sexy he was while paying attention to lectures and how nice he was towards people.

They usually didn’t talk much, only greeted each other on campus and exchanged a few words about the class they shared. On the second semester, much to Renjun’s deception, they didn’t have any classes together since Jaemin was an Elementary Education student and their curriculums didn’t match much. Every time they met, he was still smiley and attentive, though. Sicheng kept telling him that Jaemin looked at him differently, but Renjun couldn’t believe it. To him, Jaemin was just being nice.

Renjun wasn’t ugly and he knew that, but Jaemin was so out of his league… While himself was a nerd without much social skills who’d rather stay home watching documentaries about aliens and conspiracy theories on Discovery Channel than going to parties, Jaemin was the exact opposite. Even though he was nice and considerate towards everyone, he was very popular, part of the Faculty of Education’s sports team and was always at university parties, like Lucas always told him. Besides that, Renjun always saw him walking around with Lee Jeno, the handsome and athletic Production Engineering guy, and he swore they had something. He didn’t stand a chance.

He was so caught up in his own self-deprecating thoughts and in trying to go unnoticed that he barely noticed someone coming closer to him, taking the tall guy’s place.

“Renjun?”

His eyes got wide when he heard that very familiar voice. He couldn’t ignore how adorable the pronunciation was, but his small body froze instantly. Na Jaemin was calling his name!

“Hi, Jaemin!” He smiled amicably, trying not to seem unnatural and nervous. “How are you?”

“I’m good, how about you?”

Renjun wanted to scream having that beautiful and bright smile directed towards himself.

“I’m good too… I never saw you here around this time.” He was shaking, especially having the other boy so close to him, but he couldn’t lose and opportunity like that.

Jaemin seemed surprised and for a moment Renjun wondered if he sounded like a stalker or something.

“Oh… I usually don’t take the subway. Jeno usually picks me up but something came up today and he’s gonna be late and I didn’t want to miss the first class.”

By the way he was smiling and staring, looking like he had ulterior motives, Renjun wanted to think he had something to do with the other’s motivation to go to the university by the subway that morning, but for the well-being of his mental health, he decided not to. Jeno picked him up every day, after all. They definitely had something.

So, he just nodded, not knowing how to keep the conversation going. Jaemin got a little closer, putting his backpack between his legs in order to give some more space to a lady who just came from another wagon with a lot of bags. Renjun felt a little nervous to be so close but it wasn’t like he could do something, and he was by no means complaining.

“Well…” Jaemin started, attracting Renjun’s attention again “Do you wanna have some coffee with me after class?”

Speaking like that… Was he asking if Renjun wanted to go out with him? Like… on a date? Renjun barely had the time to register the question before having the other’s face centimeters away from his and their bodies basically pressed against each other. He didn’t see that the lady with the bags ended up bumping into Jaemin and making him almost fall.

He also didn’t have the time to register the situation when he looked away embarrassed and noticed that Jaemin’s hand was closed on his over the metal bar. His eyes went wide and he was outraged. After that, he knew exactly what kind of “coffee” the other boy wanted to have after class. What kind of person did Jaemin take him for?

“You pervert!”

He didn’t think twice before slapping him right on the face and running as soon as the door opened.

*****

“You did _what_?!”

Renjun was sitting on the stairway of the campus’ arena theater with his head down. After the scare, he was going through a mix of anger and deception. Despite the popularity and regular presence at parties, he didn’t think Jaemin was like that. He always seemed so nice and sweet… Apparently, Renjun was mistaken. People like him were all the same. Well… Except for Lucas, but Lucas was an exception for pretty much everything, after all.

Lucas was the only one who (still) wasn’t there. All of his friends – his beloved China line – from Kun, who was staring at him in a mixture of preoccupation and disbelief, to Xiaojun, who had a long run from the Law building there, were sitting around him, very confused from the text he desperately sent on their Kakaotalk group. He still hadn’t told them the whole story, but the phrase “I slapped Na Jaemin’s face” had been enough for them to go crazy.

“I know, _ge_…” He almost whispered, shy as he never got around the boys.

“Wasn’t he like… your supreme crush?” Chenle questioned, triggering another horde of questions from the boys and all Renjun wanted was to become an ostrich and shove his face on the first hole he found.

“I’m here, guys!” Said Lucas, panting, throwing his backpack on the ground before joining the others. He probably ran from the Physical Education Department there “What’s with your face, Kun? And why is Jun’s head down?”

Renjun wanted to laugh thinking about the sermon Lucas would have to face from Kun after that was over for not using the honorifics, but his situation was too tragic to laugh at someone else’s misfortune.

“He slapped Na Jaemin’s face.” Said Hendery as if it was nothing.

“You did what?!”

Renjun just sighed.

“What do you mean?”

“We wanna know, but he won’t talk.” Said Yangyang.

“Of course he won’t talk. You don’t let him.” Snapped Sicheng while tenderly holding Renjun’s hand. “Talk, Jun.”

Renjun was confused. He didn’t know where to start. He was disappointed and felt that irritation grow on his chest again.

“He was a pervert, _ge_!” Renjun said, a few tones higher than normal.

“What did he do?!” Asked Yangyang, ready to get up and go after Jaemin.

“Yangyang.” Reprimanded Kun. “Let him talk.”

“He held my hand in that way!”

The seven boys exchanged looks, confused.

“In _what_ way?” Asked Sicheng.

“_That_ way, _ge_! In the subway!” He repeated the same thing Jaemin did to him on the hand that was being held by Sicheng. “Like this! That pervert! First he came all nice asking me if I wanted to have some coffee with him and then this!”

“He asked if you wanted to have coffee with him?” Asked Hendery, excited.

“He did this to me and you’re worried about the coffee?!”

“Elaborate it, Renjun.” Said Kun, suspicious.

“He was in the subway this morning and said hello, then I mentioned I never saw him there and he said he couldn’t come with Jeno today ‘cause he didn’t wanna miss the first class, then he asked if I wanted to have some coffee with him after class and OUT OF THE BLUE” As Renjun kept talking, the other boys’ faces was becoming lighter and even funny “his face was like glued to mine and he was holding my hand like this! It scared me, guys! I wasn’t expecting!”

“You know it doesn’t mean anything in Korea, right?” Xiaojun said, calmly.

Renjun thought about it for a moment. Wasn’t it the same throughout all southeast Asia?

“He knows I’m Chinese, Xiaojun!” He said, irritated.

“Have it occurred to you that someone might have bumped onto him and he just tried to hold onto something?” Asked Kun.

“Look, there was a lady with some bags, but… _Oh my God_…”

It was at that moment Renjun knew… he fucked up.

*****

Renjun stopped in front of the Faculty of Education building and sighed. After realizing the scale of the trouble he caused, he was absolutely sure Jaemin hated him at that moment and any chances he might have had (if there were any in the first place) with his crush were ruined. However, his friends still encouraged him to at least apologize as they still had a class together and would have to see each other for the rest of the semester.

He was still disappointed, but now at himself, and never in his whole life he felt so ashamed. It was just a misunderstanding, but the kind of misunderstanding which brought drastic consequences. Besides that, he didn’t know what kind of reaction Jaemin would have and he would have to accept anything. It would be too sad if his crush actually hated him.

While walking towards the inside of the building, he reminded himself of Kun’s advice: “Be sincere. Explain what happened and apologize. If he doesn’t want to take your apologies, at least you did what you had to do”. His legs were shaking, but he took a deep breath.

Jaemin was right at the hall, sitting on a bench with some friends – whom Renjun recognized Lee Jeno, his biggest competitor, and Kim Jungwoo, Lucas’ fling – laughing as if nothing happened. However, as he approached, an uncomfortable silence arose and all the faces became stern. He didn’t let it stop him, though, and bowed to everyone after saying hello.

“Can we talk?” He asked Jaemin, noticing that the spot he previously slapped wasn’t red anymore.

Jaemin exchanged looks with his friends. The two girls whom Renjun didn’t know said something about seeing him in class and left towards the stairs. Jungwoo said he would meet him later and followed in the same direction, not without saying goodbye to Renjun. Jeno stood still and he didn’t seem happy at all.

“I’m leaving ‘cause I can’t miss Statistics today but call me if you need anything.” He said, high-fiving Jaemin and glaring at Renjun before walking towards the exit of the building.

Renjun was there to apologize, but he didn’t really know how to start that conversation. The more he had to face of the reality, the most nervous he became. Shy, he sat by Jaemin’s side, but keeping a safe distance. He searched for resistance on the other’s eyes, but his expression was neutral. He closed his eyes and sighed.

“Sorry for today.” He started. “I didn’t wanna hurt you or anything, but I got scared and that was an impulse.”

“I didn’t want to scare you or make you uncomfortable. What happened was that a lady bumped onto me.” He said, as serious as Renjun never saw him “It was out of the blue, but I still can’t understand how getting scared can trigger an impulse of slapping me. If you didn’t want to go out with me, you could’ve just said it.”

“It’s not that, Jaemin.” Renjun lowered his head, embarrassed. “It was a misunderstanding.”

Jaemin frowned. Wasn’t he there to apologize? What kind of comment was that?

“Oh my God, I’m sorry.” He said, noticing Jaemin’s expression. “It was _my_ misunderstanding. In China, when you hold someone’s hand like you ended up holding mine, it means you wanna have sex with the person. I was nervous because you had just asked me out and then you did that, and I didn’t know it wasn’t like that here and I kinda felt offended…”

Jaemin’s eyes went wide. He didn’t really understand it when Renjun called him a pervert but considering the fact that he got slapped right after, he just accepted there wasn’t much to understand. Now he finally got it. He never felt so embarrassed as he was feeling in that moment. All he wanted was an opportunity to spend some more time with his pretty crush out of the university, but he ended up looking like a pervert indeed. What a great time for that lady to come into the wagon her bags!

“I’m sorry, Renjun…” Jaemin said, ashamed. “My intention wasn’t that, I mean it.”

“I know… I’ve been living here for more than a year, I should know it already… I hope Jeno didn’t get mad at you. I can talk to him if you want.”

Jaemin looked confused, his expression being funny.

“Jeno? Why would Jeno get mad at me for that?”

“Isn’t he your boyfriend? I don’t think he would be happy to know you got slapped because you were asking another guy out even if you didn’t have ulterior motives…”

“Boyfriend?”

Jaemin laughed so hard he could feel the small tears forming in the corner of his eyes. Renjun didn’t understand.

“We’re childhood friends.” He explained after taking a deep breath, still laughing a little. “Dating him would be like dating a brother and that’s gross.”

Renjun could feel his face warming because of the embarrassment. For the second time on the same day he wanted to become an ostrich so he could stick head in the first hole available.

“_Aish_… So we’re good, right? I’ll leave before I embarrass myself more. See you in Didactic.”

Renjun started walking fast with his head down and his face red, pleading Heaven he didn’t go through any more embarrassment during the brief walk to the exit.

“Renjun?”

He stopped in the middle and turned around after hearing Jaemin calling for him.

“Do you still want to have that coffee with me?”

Even though he was very embarrassed, Renjun smiled boldly.

“I’ll wait for you on the main entrance after class.”

**Author's Note:**

> One of my friends (who's always aware when I'm writing something 'cause I keep bothering her with it - thank you, Lu) suggested I should write a sequel and I've been thinking if I should turn this into a series and write more stories about this universe. What do you guys think? I'm open for suggestions!
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it! Comments are always welcomed.


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